My arrest was an attempt to terrorise student community, says Hem Mishra
“Our system is scared of those (people) who raise their
voice against its injustice. It (system) is scared of the people’s
voice.
Students and activists, who expose failures of
governments, are viewed as a threat by the establishment and the state
wants to destroy this threat,” opined Mr. Hem Mishra, a student of
prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University after his release from the
Nagpur central jail on Tuesday.
Mr. Mishra was
arrested by the Maharashtra police in August 2013 on charge of being a
Maoist courier. The Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court granted him
conditional bail last week. He calls himself a “cultural and student
activist” and says that he was a victim of the “establishment’s
insecurity” with the voices against injustice which makes it target
those who expose its failures.
“I was never arrested
from Gadchiroli as claimed by the police. They (police) forcibly
detained me from Ballarashah railway station in Chandrapur district of
Maharashtra on August 20, 2013, and kept me in illegal detention for 80
hours. They inhumanly tortured me for the next 27 days and were forcing
me to accept a story created by them. I was going to Hemalkasa village
to meet Dr. Prakash Amte. I have no connections with the Maoists,” Mr.
Mishra told The Hindu after his release from jail.
‘Disturbing trend’
When
asked as to why the police branded him a Maoist, the JNU student said,
“We are witnessing a trend in India these days. Whoever raises his voice
against injustice or against the atrocities of the establishment, is
being branded Maoist. Every protest, be it against displacement,
deforestation or atrocities, is being crushed by labelling it as Maoist
sponsored. In my case, I was kept in jail for the the last 2 years and
19 days because I expressed my disagreement with injustice through my
songs and student protests.”
He also claimed that by
targeting him, the state wanted to send a signal to the student
community in India which is the mainstay of many protests.
“The
main motto behind my arrest was to terrorise the student community in
India,” said Mr. Mishra. Asked about his future course of action which
includes a long legal battle and an incomplete course of the Chinese
language at the JNU, the cultural activist said that he was confident of
being acquitted.
“As far as protest against
injustice, I believe there is nothing illegal in it. Every citizen
should raise his voice against injustice and I will continue to do
that,” added Mr. Mishra, who was kept in the secluded “Anda cell” of
Nagpur central jail for more than a year. (TheIndu.com)
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